Browns: Bye week will be 'big' for Trent Richardson

Sam Greene/Journal Register News Service
Browns running back Trent Richardson will benefit from the team's bye week. He has rushed for 575 yards and five touchdowns and caught 31 passes for 240 yards and a TD in the team's first nine games.

Trent Richardson is just 12 yards shy of what Peyton Hillis gained as the Browns' leading rusher last season, and he still has not been at his best.

First Richardson had to deal with missing the entire preseason recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. Now the right side of his ribs yelp when he gets hit in the same place he was whacked in the sixth game, though to him playing with pain is a badge of honor.

The bye comes at a perfect time for Richardson. The Browns last practiced on Tuesday and don't get together again until Monday.

"The bye week is going to be big for me concerning the rib injury," Richardson said before heading to Pensacola, Fla., for a few days. "It hasn't really been where I can be at 100 percent yet, so I'm waiting for that moment. Whenever my ribs do heal, it's going to make a big difference. When they heal 100 percent -- I don't know if it will be over this bye week -- but whenever they do, it's going to be a whole 'nother Trent."

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Richardson has rushed for 575 yards and five touchdowns in nine games. Last year, Hillis played 10 games -- he missed one with strep throat and five with a hamstring injury -- and rushed for 587 yards and three touchdowns. Hillis also caught 22 passes for 130 yards and no touchdowns.

T-Rich has also surpassed Hillis' receiving totals from last year. The rookie from Alabama has a team-high 31 catches for 240 yards and a touchdown.

Yet where results matter most the Browns are behind where they were at this point a year ago. The 2012 Browns are 2-7. After six games last year, they were 3-3. They won only once in their last 10 games, which means in the last 19 games the Browns are 3-16.

For what it's worth, Matt Williamson of ESPN.com includes Richardson on his midseason all-rookie team ahead of running back Doug Martin from Tampa Bay. He also includes right tackle Mitchell Schwartz and wide receiver Josh Gordon on his all-rookie team.

Regarding his choice of Richardson over Martin, Williamson wrote: "Choosing between Richardson and Martin was really splitting hairs, but I let the fact I think Richardson will soon rival Adrian Peterson as the best running back in the NFL sway me just a bit."

Richardson has broken 100 yards in three games and the Browns won one of them. He rushed for 122 yards when the Browns edged San Diego, 7-6. He rushed for 109 yards in Cincinnati (a 34-27 loss) and 105 yards against the Ravens in a 25-15 defeat.

Coach Pat Shurmur has taken heat for not giving the ball to Richardson in some critical third-and-1 situations. The Browns are 8-for-18 on third-and-1. They are 4 of 10 running and 4 of 8 passing on third-and-1.

The second-guessing on Shurmur's short-yardage strategy is coming from fans and media. It is not coming from Richardson. Richardson played college football at Alabama, where Nick Saban is king and his word is law. Richardson listens to the head coach, no questions asked.

"I think they know what they're doing," Richardson said. "I just think they're just trying to put me in different positions catching the ball or running the ball. They're just trying to do different things to equal out all of my ability.

"They know exactly what they're doing. They wouldn't have a job if they didn't. They're just trying different ways to give me the ball and get me in space and stuff like that."

Some players, as Richardson did, went home during the bye. Others stayed in Berea. Cornerback Dimitri Patterson is in the latter group. He stayed around the Browns' facility to rehab his injured ankle.

Shurmur is not altering his routine much. He planned to be in the office every day to do what he can to turn the season around. Improving short-yardage plays is one of the projects. Overall, the Browns rank 30th on first downs per game and 27th in third-down efficiency. Only Jacksonville and St. Louis struggle more to make first downs.

Shurmur was happy to learn Richardson vows "another Trent" will emerge from the bye. The next game is in Dallas on Nov. 18. The Browns have lost 11 straight on the road.

"That's awesome," Shurmur said. "I see a young man that's a rookie fighting through an NFL season, and sometimes that deals with playing with injuries, soreness what have you. I see a guy that realizes that he physically can get a little better, and he knows that will help his performance, so that's good. I hope he gets better."